Making Room for Something Simple

Hello, Subscriber First Name,

After spending nearly every waking moment of the past few months designing and testing wildflowers for my Wildflower Field Guide, this week I found myself stepping back into a very different part of my design brain.

It was just the break I needed, and I’m excited to report that the Trinity Medley Scarf is finally ready to make its debut!

It’s funny how a project can remind you of something you almost forgot. Lately, I’ve been so immersed in intricate flowers and motifs, and the enormous puzzle of putting them all together, that I’d almost forgotten how much I enjoy designing something simple and elegant, too.

And apparently, I’m not the only one who has missed that side of my work. I’ve heard from many of you over the years who particularly love my simpler designs, and who have been patiently waiting for more of them. So perhaps this scarf is arriving at exactly the right time. In the middle of a season of wildflowers, it feels a little like a present to those who enjoy that side of my work.

The Trinity Medley Scarf actually began months ago, with a stitch I wasn’t quite ready to leave behind. After launching my Christmas in July patterns, I found myself still thinking about that wonderfully squishy little trinity stitch. I’d spent so much time working with it that I wanted to see what else it could do. So I started making swatches.

Originally, I was looking for stitch patterns that would play nicely with trinity stitch in a larger project. I tried quite a few combinations, keeping the ones that felt like they belonged together and setting aside the ones that didn’t.

I still have all of those swatches sitting here in my studio, and looking at them now, I can see the beginnings of several future projects. I’m glad that I started with a scarf though. It’s a wonderfully manageable project that still gives you plenty of opportunities to play with stitch pattern, color, and texture.

I started by designing a simple solid-colored version in a soft tan yarn. I wanted to see how all of the stitch patterns worked together in an actual project rather than just as little squares on my worktable. And I loved it. The different textures give each section its own character, but the trinity stitch keeps the whole thing connected.

Once I finished the solid version, I knew I wanted to see what would happen if I worked each stitch-pattern stripe in a different color.

The jewel tones were a happy accident. I didn’t even realize I had so many of these colors in my stash! My whole life up until now, I’ve been avoiding jewel tones. But I couldn’t deny that I had a stash full of them, mostly left over from various blanket projects. This scarf gave me the perfect chance to make use of that leftover yarn. I was curious to see what they would look like together. I planned out my scarf so that each section would be worked in a different jewel-toned shade.

It wasn’t until I finally put it around my neck that I had to admit I was completely in love with it. It has so much personality without feeling overly complicated. It’s even got me rethinking the way I feel about jewel tones, and I can’t wait to wrap it around my neck when the weather turns cold.

But I think my favorite version might be the one I haven’t made yet.

My cousin loves rainbow colors, so I’m going to make one for her using the same yarn I’m using for my Wildflower Field Guide blanket. I’ll choose a different color of the rainbow for each stripe, and when it’s complete, she’ll have a little piece of this project that has meant so much to me this year.

Before I could send the pattern out into the world, though, I needed some help making sure all those little stitch combinations actually behaved themselves.

A few wonderful testers made their own scarves and helped me catch the things I couldn’t see on my own. I always love seeing what happens when someone else takes one of my designs and makes it their own, and their finished scarves are no exception. I’ve been awed by their color choices: some playful, some artistic, some sophisticated. It’s been a real treat to see how the pattern looks in different colors and yarns. If you’d like to see their scarves, I invite you to visit the pattern’s project page on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/trinity-medley-scarf/people

And that, really, is how the Trinity Medley Scarf came about. I wasn’t planning to design a scarf when I started experimenting with trinity stitch. I was simply curious about what would happen if I put a few different stitch patterns together. And what do you think of the result? Do you prefer the solid-colored scarf or the striped version? Reply to this email to let me know. I’d love to hear from you!

If you’d like to take a closer look at the Trinity Medley Scarf, you can find all the details on the design’s webpage: https://jenniferolivarez.com/trinity-medley-scarf

Next week, I’ll return to my work on the Wildflower project. There are so many flowers yet to explore, and I can’t wait to share them with you!

Until then, happy crocheting,

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